On The Fly: Closing WrapStocks on Wall Street were lower, as the major averages receded from record levels. The Dow and S&P 500 closed yesterday at all-time highs, though the market was unable to build upon those records. Auto sales for February included disappointments for several companies, but that was quickly blamed on the poor weather during the month. With the economic calendar light, investors began looking forward to end of the week, when the highly anticipated monthly nonfarm payrolls are released. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no major economic data was reported. COMPANY NEWS: Automakers reported on their sales in the U.S. during February, with several falling short of expectations. Ford (F) reported sales fell about 2% last month compared to the prior year, and its stock fell 40c, or 2.41%, to $16.17 afterward. Shares of Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), which reported a 6% increase in U.S. sales last month, declined 52c, or 3.28%, to $15.31. General Motors (GM) reported its February U.S. sales rose a bit over 4%, but that was below the nearly 6% increase that had been forecast by analysts, and shares gained 19c, or 0.51%, to $37.80... Target (TGT) shares gained 32c, or 0.41%, to $78.00 as the company held its investor day meeting. During the meeting, the retailer guided for its fiscal 2015 EPS to be $4.45-$4.65, versus consensus $4.50, and projected that its sales will grow 2%-3% during the fiscal year. Target also said it is targeting $2B in share repurchases this year and said it expects 5%-10% annual dividend growth. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Orexigen (OREX), which surged $1.85, or 31.95%, to $7.64 after the company disclosed that its weight loss drug, Contrave, demonstrated a statistically significant benefit over placebo for cardiovascular events when announcing a method of treatment patent was issued by the USPTO. Also higher was Springleaf Holdings (LEAF), which gained $12.19, or 32.05%, to $50.23 after agreeing to acquire OneMain Financial from Citigroup (C) for $4.25B. Among the noteworthy losers was Primoris Services (PRIM), which fell $3.87, or 18.35%, to $17.22 after reporting fourth quarter results that fell short of consensus expectations and were below last year’s fourth quarter. Also lower were shares of Micron (MU), which fell $1.58, or 5.06%, to $29.66 after Nomura downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. INDEXES: The Dow fell 85.26, or 0.47%, to 18,203.37, the Nasdaq lost 28.20, or 0.56%, to 4,979.90, and the S&P 500 declined 9.61, or 0.45%, to 2,107.78.

GM February U.S. sales rise 4.2% to 231,378 vehicles General Motors said dealers in the United States delivered 231,378 vehicles last month. Total sales were up 4.2% compared to a year ago. Retail sales were up 1%. Commercial and fleet deliveries were up 12%. GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate for light vehicles in February was 16.5M units. The automaker ended February with 732,394 units of inventory, or 76 days supply, versus 732,470 at last month's end. GM estimates the 2015 light vehicle SAAR at 16.5M-17.0M.

Five people reject GM ignition settlements, WSJ saysFive people who submitted injury claims related to General Motors' ignition recall have rejected settlement offers, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Journal speculates that the rejections "likely [pave] the way for future lawsuits." Camille Biros, one of the administers of the compensation fund, stated "it is a bit surprising as these rejections are lower-end category two claims. These amounts are clearly spelled out in the facility’s protocol and are based strictly upon the number of nights of hospitalization or out-patient treatment." Reference Link

Navistar sees Q2 adjusted EBITDA $100M-$150MSees Q2 manufacturing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities between $700M-$800M. The company reiterated its forecast for retail deliveries of Class 6-8 trucks and buses in the United States and Canada to be in the range of 350,000 to 380,000 units for fiscal year 2015. It also announced that it remains on track to achieve its goal of an 8-10 percent adjusted EBITDA margin run rate exiting fiscal year 2015.

Alcoa completes acquisition of TITALAlcoa announced that it has completed the acquisition of privately held TITAL. Alcoa closed the transaction, which was announced on December 15, 2014, after receiving all of the required global regulatory approvals. TITAL is a manufacturer of titanium and aluminum structural castings for aircraft engines and airframes. Alcoa sees a current 8-year production order book at 2014 delivery rates. Almost 70% of TITAL’s revenues are expected to come from commercial aerospace sales in 2019. Further, its titanium revenues are expected to increase by 70% over the next five years as manufacturers of next-generation jet engines look to titanium solutions for engine structural components. In 2014, TITAL generated revenues of approximately approximately $100M, more than half of which came from titanium products. TITAL’s business is being integrated into Alcoa’s Engineered Products and Solutions segment.

General Motors to discontinue vehicle production at Bekasi, Indonesia plantAs part of its ongoing focus on strengthening the performance of its global operations, General Motors announced that it will transition to a national sales company in Indonesia and will discontinue vehicle production at its Bekasi manufacturing plant near Jakarta by the end of June. GM Indonesia will retain its local presence by providing customers with Chevrolet products such as the Orlando, Captiva and Trailblazer through its committed dealer network. Several factors contributed to GM’s decision, including high material costs and reduced potential to utilize the local supplier base due to limited scale.As a result of the company’s actions, approximately 500 positions will be impacted at the Bekasi plant, which is 16 km east of Jakarta. The plant, which is wholly owned by GM Indonesia, opened in 1995. It was reactivated in May 2013 after a suspension of production in 2005. The Bekasi plant currently produces the Chevrolet Spin for Indonesia and other ASEAN markets. GM also announced that GM Indonesia President Michael Dunne has decided to leave the company at the end of February to start his own business and focus on his previous domain of expertise. Dunne’s decision has been known to GM for some time. GM has identified a new executive to lead the NSC, who will be announced shortly. GM Indonesia CFO Pranav Bhatt will serve as interim president until the permanent replacement is named.

FedEx upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit SuisseCredit Suisse upgraded FedEx to Outperform to reflect the shift in capex focus towards U.S. Ground Network capacity, a higher margin business and less capital intensive than Express. The firm expects consolidated margins and ROIC to improve should FDX Ground continue its outsized growth. Price target to $203 from $177.

UAW chief says GM buyback proposal too much, premature, Reuters saysDennis Williams, the president of the UAW, said that an investor group’s proposal that GM buy back $8B of its stock is premature, and the amount too high for the company’s long-term health, says Reuters. The UAW indirectly controls the largest single block of General Motors shares, added Reuters. Reference Link

Citigroup sees truck carrier stocks poised to outperformWith the U.S. economy growing quickly, the stocks of truck carriers are likely to outperform the S&P 500, Citigroup believes. WHAT'S NEW: Truck transportation prices and truck carrier stocks "respond most directly to economic growth," Citigroup analyst Christian Wetherbee wrote in a note to investors today. After carriers' truckload rates rose 4% last year, the rates should rise by a similar amount this year, Wetherbee predicted. Economic growth, along with the difficulties the carriers are experiencing with recruiting drivers, should be supportive of additional rate increases, the analyst stated. Wetherbee warned that the stocks of truck builders usually underperform during periods such as the current one, when a large amounts of U.S. class 8 trucks are being built. Consequently, truck carrier stocks present investors with an opportunity, while investors should be cautious on truck builders and parts suppliers, he wrote. Among truck carriers, Swift (SWFT) is particularly attractive, since it has underperformed its peers over the last year, Wetherbee stated. Additionally, the company's results appear likely to at least meet consensus estimates, the analyst predicted. He also kept a Buy rating on another truck carrier, Knight Transportation (KNX) and maintained a Buy rating on Cummins (CMI), which builds truck engines. The analyst kept a Hold rating on truck builder PACCAR (PCAR). OTHERS TO WATCH: Navistar (NAV) builds trucks and Celadon (CGI) is another truck carrier. PRICE ACTION: In early afternoon trading, Swift rose 1%, Knight Transportation gained 1.3%, Cummins added 0.7%, and PACCAR lost 0.5%.

Ally CEO exploring subprime lending, sees loss of GM business, Detroit News saysAlly (ALLY) CEO Jeffrey Brown stated in a Thursday interview with The Detroit News that the company may return to offering credit cards and home mortgages, and currently plans to expand auto lending to subprime customers. The CEO said he expects to decide within 30-60 days whether Ally will consolidate its five locations to a single headquarters in the Detroit suburbs. Brown added that he expects GM (GM) to shift its $4.1B subsidized leasing program for Chevrolet from Ally to GM Financial, which the Ally CEO wants to offset by increasing subprime lending from 9% of total lending to 12%-15%. Reference Link

Apple pushing for 2020 production of its electric car, Bloomberg saysApple (AAPL) is pushing to begin production of its electric vehicle as soon as 2020, reports Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg notes that the move could put Apple into direct competition with Tesla (TSLA) and General Motors (GM), both of which are targeting a 2017 release for next-generation electric vehicles. Apple may still cancel the project if it becomes unhappy with progress, the sources said, though its vehicle team is already 200-people strong. Reference Link

General Motors names Craig Glidden as new general counselGeneral Motors (GM) announced yesterday that Craig B. Glidden has been appointed executive VP and general counsel, effective March 1. Glidden will lead a team of staff attorneys who are integrated into all of GM’s regional and functional teams in more than 30 countries. Glidden succeeds Michael Millikin, who is retiring in July after a nearly four-decade legal career, including five years as GM’s general counsel. Before joining GM, Glidden was executive VP and chief legal officer for LyondellBasell Industries (LYB).

Car sales rose in Europe last month, NY Times saysEuropean car sales increased 6.7% in January, versus the same period a year earlier, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association indicates, according to The New York Times. January was the 17th straight month that European car sales have increased, but they remain well below the levels they reached before the financial crisis, the newspaper stated. Publicly traded companies in the space include Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Fiat S.p.A. (FIATY), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY). Reference Link